FY23 Community Project Funding

As part of the Fiscal Year 2023 Appropriations process, Members of Congress are able to submit 15 requests for Community Project Funding on behalf of their constituents. The Office of Congressman Jamaal Bowman has submitted the following Community Project Funding requests to the House Appropriations Committee for consideration (listed in alphabetical order). These projects will be vetted by the House Appropriations Committee for alignment with eligibility guidelines, and are not guaranteed to be awarded funding.

Climate and Resilience Upgrades to Village of Hastings-on-Hudson Buildings

Request amount: $1,958,400.00

Recipient: Village of Hastings-on-Hudson (7 Maple Avenue, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, 10706)

The Village of Hastings-on-Hudson would use these funds to upgrade their public library and village hall to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve safety conditions, and create a model for the region in green, decarbonized public building design that fosters a clean energy future. Funding will allow the Village to replace a hazardous, outdated fossil-fuel burning boiler with a geothermal heating and cooling system; replace and rehabilitate windows to improve energy efficiency; and install solar panels for further clean energy generation.

Creating a new Bronx Community Health Network Community Health and Wellness Center in the Northeast Bronx

Request amount: $2,001,503

Recipient: Bronx Community Health Network (1 Fordham Plaza, Suite 1108, Bronx, NY 10458)

This funding would be used to open an 11,000 square foot NYS Article 28, licensed diagnostic and treatment center in a medically underserved area of the Northeast Bronx. This community-based federally qualified health center will provide co-located, integrated medical, behavioral and oral health services, podiatry, pharmacy, and complementary health promotion, education, outreach, social support, care coordination and chronic disease management services for an estimated 7,4000 patients.

 

Equipping and Connecting Yonkers Residents to Workforce Enhancement & Recession-Proof Employment Opportunities

Request amount: $690,449.00

Recipient: Young Women’s Christian Association of Yonkers, Incorporated (87 South Broadway, Yonkers, New York, 10701)

This funding would allow the Yonkers YWCA to launch a workforce development initiative that will provide workforce development services to approximately 200 Yonkers residents and linkage to public sector employment opportunities. Services will include job skill assessments, work readiness workshops, postsecondary education preparation and placement, career guidance, child care and transportation for participants.


Expansion of Behavioral Health Clinics in Westchester County Public Schools

Request amount: $3,005,523.00

Recipient: Montefiore Medical Center (111 E. 210th Street, Bronx, NY, 10467)

This funding would support start-up construction and services associated with establishing three additional satellite behavioral health clinics at public schools in high need, underserved areas of New York’s 16th Congressional District, including New Rochelle, Yonkers and Mount Vernon.


Improving Emergency Healthcare Equity by Creating Safe and Reassuring Emergency Department Space for Yonkers’ Residents 

Request amount: $2,000,000.00

Recipient: St. John’s Riverside Hospital ( 967 North Broadway, Yonkers, NY, 10701)

This funding would be used to renovate and expand the Emergency Department space at St. John’s Riverside Hospital to add additional patient care space and workstations to the currently overcrowded location. This hospital primarily serves Medicaid and Medicare recipients, and the renovations will help create a safer and more effective healthcare delivery setting.


Katonah Avenue Community Facility Renovation and Expansion to Better Serve Immigrant Neighbors

Request amount: $330,054.00

Recipient: Emerald Isle Immigration Center (4275 Katonah Avenue Bronx, NY, 10470)

Construction funding would allow the Emerald Isle Immigration Center to add a third floor to its building, renovate the currently unused second floor space and add an elevator to make all levels fully accessible, making four newly renovated floors of program, office and community space, including a training lab and library, offices and private client meeting rooms, a large flexible community space and new finishes and furniture throughout.


New Rochelle Community Youth Violence Intervention Initiative 

Request amount: $1,125,245.00

Recipient: Justice Innovation, Inc. (520 Eighth Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10018)

This funding would be used to prevent youth violence in New Rochelle. Project staff will leverage the services of local social service providers, reengage disconnected youth, support their enrollment and completion of socioemotional, educational, and economic services, and facilitate the improvement of their economic self-sufficiency, thereby improving community violence outcomes.


Older Adult Centers Case Management Pilot Project to Support Vulnerable Seniors in Public Housing and Veterans Centers in the Northeast Bronx

Request amount: $800,000

Recipient: Regional Aid for Interim Needs, Inc.(811 Morris Ave, Bronx, NY 10462)

This funding would be used to develop new wrap-around services for older adults at five Older Adult Centers in New York’s 16th Congressional District. Funds would support crisis intervention, access to mental health counseling, home visits and evaluation, referrals, Safety Training, Emergency Preparedness Capacity Building, and more. The project will support self-sufficiency among older adults and result in lower community costs as older adults become healthier and more independent.


Out of School Time Learning in Safe, Responsive & Enriching Places to Increase Student Achievement, Foster Positive Growth Mindsets & Support Mental Health for K-12 Students Through Academic Innovation

Request amount: $2,000,000

Recipient: City School District of New Rochelle (515 North Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10801)

This funding would be used to create a holistic summer and after school learning experience for 1,500 students to promote deeper learning opportunities, provide wraparound mental health support in response to a nationwide youth mental health crisis declared by the U.S. Surgeon General, and to facilitate students’ development of a growth mindset and become self-sufficient. The program is an evidence-based approach that will improve student engagement, high school graduation and college retention rates, and social-emotional outcomes.


Rehabilitation of the Yonkers Sewage Treatment Plant to Promote the Health and Wellbeing of Residents

Request amount: $4,000,000

Recipient: Westchester County

The County of Westchester would use these funds to complete the necessary final stage of a rehabilitation project for a public sewage facility to promote the health and wellbeing of residents in the surrounding area that are suffering from toxic odor stemming from this plant.


Relaunching NYC’s Children’s Cabinet to Support Unhoused Children and Families

Request amount: $2,000,000

Recipient: NYC Mayor’s Office; NYC Department of Education (260 Broadway/City Hall Park, New York NY 10007)

This funding would be used to relaunch the New York City Children’s Cabinet to support better care coordination among city agencies on behalf of children and families who are unhoused. The project aims to improve housing stability and educational outcomes for children in the New York City shelter system, including those in New York’s 16th Congressional District.


Safe Place 4 Our Girls 

Request amount: $999,000

Recipient: Mount Vernon Youth Bureau (1 Roosevelt Square, Mount Vernon, NY 10550)

In response to the unprecedented trauma that young women in Mount Vernon face from the pandemic and gun violence epidemic, the City of Mount Vernon Youth Bureau would use this Community Project Funding request to launch Safe Place 4 Our Girls (SP4OG) to provide wraparound support and behavioral development activities for 50 at-risk girls ages ten to twenty-one.


Study of the Lake Isle Dam to Promote Safety, Flood Mitigation, and Environmental Justice in Southern Westchester

Request amount: $2,560,000.00

Recipient: Westchester County (148 Martine Avenue, 4th Floor, White Plains, NY 10601)

Westchester County would use this funding to conduct a conditions assessment and feasibility study of the Lake Isle Dam in Eastchester, NY. This project would have a significant benefit to thousands of predominantly low-income residents living around and south of the Lake Isle Dam by taking an important step toward preventing a potentially catastrophic breach in the dam.


The Andrus Health Equity Access Fund to Promote Mental Health for Uninsured and Underinsured Yonkers Residents 

Request amount: $802,583.00

Recipient: Julia Dyckman Andrus Memorial, Inc.(1156 North Broadway, Yonkers, NY 10701)

This funding would be used to create a fund to enable equitable access to mental healthcare and counseling for uninsured and underinsured children and families in Yonkers. It is expected to reach approximately 100 families, or 430 individuals, and have a significant impact on mental health of the Yonkers community.


YouthHEAL Initiative

Request amount: $1,600,000.00

Recipient: Youth Shelter Program of Westchester (220 East 8th Street, Mount Vernon, NY, 10550)

This funding would be used to pilot a mental health and educational support program for 150 at-risk youth ages 18 to 24 in the City of Mount Vernon, fostering violence prevention and youth well-being. The entity will use funding to deliver evidence-based behavioral health support, vocational and educational support to students, and training to staff on providing trauma-informed behavioral healthcare.

FY22 Community Project Funding

As part of the Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations process, Members of Congress are able to submit 10 requests for Community Project Funding on behalf of their constituents. The Office of Congressman Jamaal Bowman is submitting the following Community Project Funding requests (listed in alphabetical order):

Affordable Housing Preservation to Promote Housing Equity in Southern Yonkers

Request amount: $500,000

Recipient: WestHab, Inc. (8 Bashford St., Yonkers, NY 10701)

This project will deliver critically needed repairs to sustain 79 units of affordable housing in Southwest Yonkers, all of which are owned and operated by Westhab. Capital improvements are needed to sustain these properties, address urgent health and safety needs, and improve quality of life. Ultimately, the project goal is to ensure that these 79 lower income households will continue to have a quality affordable place to call home into the future. Preserving and sustaining affordable housing is a critical issue in Westchester County. According to the most recent Westchester Housing Needs Assessment, the need for affordable housing in Westchester County totals 82,451 units. This project is a good use of taxpayer funds because it will impact not only individuals living in the affordable units, but Southwest Yonkers as a whole. Repairing affordable housing promotes community longevity and economic development by ensuring individuals have access to safe and functional homes. In turn, affordable housing also establishes equity, serves low income families, and fosters economic and community resilience. 

Educational Achievement Gap Project

Request amount: $492,575

Recipient: Young Men's Christian Assoc. (YMCA) of New Rochelle (50 Weyman Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10805)

The New Rochelle YMCA’s “Educational Achievement Gap Project'' will provide comprehensive after school programming for children ages five to fifteen focused on closing the achievement gap that was exacerbated during remote schooling. Specifically, this program will include after school, weekend, and summer tutoring, arts education, physical education, and special needs support to students who struggled with learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is widely agreed that investing in supportive educational programming has a high return on investment for a child, their family, and their larger community. This will help minimize further support needed in later years and ensure that youth are college-ready or workforce-ready at the end of high school. Investing in educational programming like the New Rochelle’s YMCA is essential for the creation of a flourishing, productive society.

Expanding Behavioral Health Services for Homebound Elderly and Disabled Adults Through Home Visiting To Reduce Impact of Mental Health Challenges

Request amount: $102,600

Recipient: Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center, Inc. (107 West 4th Street, Mount Vernon, NY 10550)

With this funding, the Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center (MVNHC) will launch a new program to provide behavioral health assessments and psychotherapy to approximately 1,000 homebound elderly and disabled adults in Mount Vernon who are among the most vulnerable residents in NY-16. This population faced unprecedented levels of isolation, depression, and anxiety during the pandemic, and struggled with accessing mental health treatment before and during the pandemic. Now more than ever before, health equity must be a priority for NY-16 and the nation, starting with those most vulnerable and isolated during the ongoing pandemic. MVNHC’s Behavioral Health Services for Homebound Patients addresses behavioral health problems among elderly and disabled, compassionately and cost-efficiently. For the price of a social worker’s salary and transportation,  MVNHC’s program will bring scarce health care services to the doorsteps of those who need them most.  It will improve the quality of life for our most vulnerable neighbors, and prevent unnecessary increases in the cost of healthcare for us all. 

Improving Access to Green Space and Promoting Waterfront Resilience in America’s Largest Affordable Housing Development (Co-op City, NY)

Request amount: $500,000

Recipient: Riverbay Fund (2049 Bartow Avenue Bronx, NY 10475)

The funding would be used to begin the restoration and revitalization process for a currently polluted, unused strip of waterfront land in Co-op City, which is the largest affordable housing community and the largest Naturally Occurring Retirement Community in the nation. This project will provide new green space in an area with few public parks and promote environmental resilience in the process. The project requester (Riverbay Fund) recently conducted a resident survey that showed overwhelming interest in developing land into a park to promote community and environmental resilience. They seek this funding for the community planning and design phase of this process. Studies show that most public urban green spaces are not distributed equally and fairly, and stratified based on race and income levels. However studies also show that natural green spaces are associated with enhanced health and well-being. This project addresses environmental justice issues by providing free, accessible, clean, open spaces for the poorest borough in New York City.

Intervine: Workforce Development to Promote Positive Social and Economic Outcomes for Justice-Impacted Individuals through Environmental Resilience Skillbuilding

Request amount:  $800,636

Recipient: The HOPE Program (1360 Garrison Avenue, Bronx, NY, 10474)

Intervine: Workforce Development to Promote Social, Economic, and Environmental Resilience (Intervine) addresses environmental sustainability and job readiness for justice-impacted adults in the Bronx. Intervine provides 10 wks of $15/hr paid training in solar installation, landscaping, green infrastructure and related programs, coupled with digital literacy and banking access to promote workforce success. Each participant will receive a stipend for participating and engage in at least six community greening projects in Van Cortlandt Park (in NY-16). This program will promote job readiness and climate resilience in the Northern Bronx for people often shut out of the workforce: individuals who are formerly incarcerated. Supporting individuals with histories of criminal justice involvement by providing training, earned wages, opportunities to contribute to community sustainability, and wraparound services helps promote economic growth and prevent further setbacks that deeply impact both the individual involved and the larger community. Without workforce development opportunities, this population might be forced to live in poverty, experience homelessness, or lack access to healthcare, all of which have strong taxpayer implications.

NYC Health and Hospitals Jacobi Stand Up to Violence Program Stand Up to Violence: Reducing Violence in the Bronx through Mental Health Treatment

Request amount: $393,840 (Requested jointly with Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14)

Recipient: NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi Medical Center (1400 Pelham Parkway South, Bronx, NY 10461)

NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi (NYCHH/Jacobi) is a public hospital and Level I Trauma Center for the Bronx. Since the beginning of 2021, half of their patients suffering from violent traumas reside or were injured in the Northern Bronx portion of NY-16. This program will address the mental health challenges that youth face that contribute to violent behavior. he mental health impact of this violence is staggering and is as important to examine and address in addition to the root causes of the violence in an effective and cost-efficient manner. Left unaddressed, violence and mental health issues can lead to a cycle of emergency room utilization, police encounters, and jail time, all of which can have traumatic implications for individuals and high cost implications for taxpayers. With effective program delivery, this proposal will prevent emergency costs down the line by providing holistic mental health support to youth experiencing or at risk of experiencing trauma.  

Promoting Health Equity and Affordable Swim Access through Yonkers YMCA Pool Improvements

Request amount: $496,000

Recipient: Yonkers YMCA (17 Riverdale Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10701)

The funding would be used for essential capital improvements to the YMCA of Yonkers’ pool, which is one only two public, affordable pools in the entire city that serves predominantly low-income children of color who otherwise do not have access to swim lessons. The main objective is to maintain a vital community resource for city residents who otherwise would not have access to swim. According to a recent national study conducted at YMCAs, 64% of African-American and 45% of Hispanic children cannot swim resulting in higher rates of drowning. The project will create a state of the art swim center that will teach life-saving skills, reinforce equity and is an investment in long-term community infrastructure. In addition, it will provide funding for key accessibility improvements for this community pool, allowing older adults and those with disabilities to more safely participate in water exercise activities. Overall, this project is essential for minimizing disparities in access to swimming lessons and aerobics, promoting health equity, and ensuring the longevity of a vibrant community hub where all are welcome.


Sewage Cleanup Project to Promote Equity and Resilience in Mount Vernon

Request amount: $1,500,000

Recipient: City of Mount Vernon (One Roosevelt Square, Room 211,  Mount Vernon, NY 10550)

With Community Project Funding, the City of Mount Vernon hopes to complete the Sewer Planning Phase, the critical next step toward fully addressing the sewage issues in Mount Vernon to ensure project efficiency, continuity and provide the necessary framework to complete sewer project milestones. The City of Mount Vernon will utilize newly purchased equipment to compile the digital evaluation data which will then be provided to the engineering consultants. The identified engineering consultants will develop an overall plan to identify rehabilitation projects such as sewer pipe relining, sewer replacement, catch-basin rehabilitation, preventive maintenance tasks and tasks to improve the efficiency of our city-wide MS4 system. By collecting data, digitizing the system and implementing a plan; we will be able to track real-time progress of the overall project to efficiently monitor and maintain the system in the future. This type of investment will reduce the long term tax burden of piecemeal repairs of the City's sewer system. 


Telehealth Intervention Programs for Seniors

Request amount: $375,000

Recipient: Westchester Public/Private Membership Fund for Aging Services (9 South First Ave, Mount Vernon NY 10550)

The purpose of this program is to provide preventative Telehealth services at three new sites in Southern Westchester, serving a new patient population living in Medically Underserved Areas in Yonkers and Mount Vernon. Program participants will receive weekly remote patient monitoring of basic vital signs and health status, along with wraparound social services. The TIPS program uses technology innovatively, combining it with face-to- face contact to offer "high-tech/high-touch" services to participants. When using this model to provide preventative Telehealth services to populations previously served through other programs, Westchester County saw promising results that highlight the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of this program. With previous patient populations, this program reduced hospital and ER visits by 36% compared to prior reported hospitalizations. Estimates of program outcomes imply that this program could save up to $7,955 in taxpayer healthcare costs annually per participant. 


Town of Mamaroneck Senior Center Renovations and Energy-Efficiency Upgrades

Request amount: $308,000

Recipient: Town of Mamaroneck (740 W. Boston Post Rd, Mamaroneck, NY 10543)

The Town of Mamaroneck provides senior citizen services to all seniors of the Town including those in the Villages of Larchmont and Mamaroneck.  The funding would support capital improvements to the building, which is a hub of community and support for seniors in the area, many of whom live in isolation. These improvements will allow the Senior Center to offer more programming, eliminate crowded conditions, and create a more energy-efficient building that reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The Town, like many communities, views its seniors as a segment of the population that has contributed to the community for many years. They see this investment of taxpayer dollars as part of our collective responsibility to provide seniors with the assistance they need to thrive later in life. 

Neither Congressman Bowman nor his immediate family have any financial interest in the Community Project Funding requests. You can view the financial disclosure statements here.


In addition to submitting these 10 Community Project Funding Requests, Congressman Bowman had the opportunity to submit proposals for Member Designated Projects for consideration in the 2021 Surface Transportation Authorization Legislation. You can view the list of transportation projects submitted here